Yarn holder



1,486,406 W. WILSON YARN HOLDER Filed Nov. 25. 1921 Patented Mar. 11, 1924.

WALTER WILSON, OF JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY.

YARN" HOLDER.

Application filed November 25, 1921. Serial No.'517,754.

1 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that lVAL'rnr. WILsON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Jersey City, in the county of Hudson and State of New Jersey, has invented certain new and useful Improvements in Yarn Holders, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to improvements in yarn holders and more particularly consists in the provision of a compact and simple device for holding yarn or other material used for instance in the knitting of sweaters and like articles of wear.

Heretofore much of this knitting has been carried on in street cars and in other pubhe places where opportunity affords and the yarn in the ball has been found diflicult to handle and ready to escape from the lap of the user and to run under articles of furniture and elsewhere to the discoloration and injury to the yarn on the exterior of the ball.

The present invention aims to provide a device upon which the yarn may be wound and which affords a stand for maintaining the yarn in a set position while at the same time allowing of the free withdrawal ofthe yarn from the holder as'the operation of knitting proceeds.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an attractive and economical device in which the yarn reel may be remov able to the end that when empty it may be substituted by a full reel.

7 With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention will be more fully described hereinafter, and Will-be more particularly pointed out in the claims appended hereto.

In the drawings, wherein like symbols refer to like or corresponding parts throughout the several views,

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of an improved yarn holder constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a side view thereof;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view; and,

Fig. 4 is a central horizontal section.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, 1 designates a base which preferably consists of a block of wood weighted if necessary to hold the device erect under all conditions. To the side edges of the base block 1 are secured as by nails 2 uprights or standards 3 and 4 also preferably formed of wood and being wide at their bases but tapering upwardly above the central portion thereof.

These standards or uprights possess a certain flexibility -which is the characteristic of most varieties of wood to enable the same to be drawn inwardly against the side por tions of a reel 5 upon which the yarn, silk or other material may be wound. The tapering of the upper portions of the standards or uprights 3 and 4 also increases their flexibility and enables an accurate adjustment of these parts against the side portions of the reel 5 in order that a suitable tension may be put thereon.

The upper reduced ends of the standards I;

or uprights 3 and 4 are connected by a -cross-piece or top beam 6 having its front and rear edges 7 and 8 tapered to agree with the taperlng given to the standards or uprights, for which see Fig. 2. The base block a 1 preferably fits between the standards 3 and 4 so as to brace the same eflectually against a too great drawing of the standards together, but the cross-piece 6 is preferably fitted to the top edges of the standards and for this purpose is made longer than the base block 1. The actual means for securing the cross-piece 6 to the uprights is immaterial, nails 9 and 10 being indicated in Fig. 3, as the shanks of these nails will allow of a sufficient flexibility of the upper portions of the uprights during the flexing of the latter.

The central cylindrical portion 11 of the reel as shown in Fig. 4, is traversed by an axial. opening to receive a shaft 12 upon which the reel is free to'turn. The shaft performs a twofold function of supporting the reel 5 and for drawing together the standards 3 and 4 upon the sides of the reel. to

For this purpose the shaft 12 is made nonrotatable and this is accomplished by counter-sinking the head 13 of the shaft in a recess 14 in the outside face of the upright 4,

and in providing the head 13 and the shaft 12 adjacent thereto with lugs 15 adapted to take into notches 16 made inwardly of the recess 14 in the upright 4.

The lugs and recesses are preferably four in number as indicated in Fig. 4, although a greater or lesser number may be employed. The engagement of the lugs in the notches will resist turning of the shaft 12 and will permit of the butterfly nut 17 which is run upon the opposite threaded end of the shaft 310 being screwed tightly against the outside face of thezcompanion standard 3. The head 13 and butterfly nut 17 will between them squeeze the flexible uprights 3 and 4 against opposite portions of the reel 5, it being understood of course that the reel is fitted between the uprights with a very small degree of clearance so that a slight flexing of the uprights will be suflicient to tension the reel and prevent the yarn, silk or other material from accidentally becoming unwound as for instance when the user pulls thereupon.

By the use of the device, the unwinding of the material will be uniform and subject only to the pull of the users hand. The degree of tension upon the reel may be adjusted to a nicety and it will be found in actual practice that only a very slight flex ing of the walls need occur to establish an effective binding of the reel against a too loose rotary movement.

The yarn, silk or other material may be sold directly upon the reels and when one i reel has become exhausted it may be removed from the holder and replaced by a fresh reel. This replacement is easily accomplished by unscrewing the butterfly nut 17 and withdrawing the shaft axially through the device] The new reel is then put between the uprights and the shaft 12 replaced. The base block 1 is preferably wider than the side portions of the standards or uprights in order to cover a large area giving stability to the device.

It will be appreciated from the foregoing that the device is simple and involves the use of supporting parts for the reel to give the necessary tension thereto and that the tensioning shaft is readily removable to at the same time release the tension and permit of the replacement ofa full reel.

It is, obvious that various changes and modifications may be made in the details of construction and design of the above specifically described embodiment of this invention without departing from the spirit thereof.

What is claimed is:

1. A holder for yarn and the like comprising a base, uprights secured to the side portions of the base, and being reinforced by the base against inward movement at the lower ends of said uprights, said uprights being of a flexible character, a reel for yarn carriedbetween said uprights and adapted to receive the flexible uprights against the sides of the reel for tensioning the same, and means secured to said flexible uprights for supporting the reel for rotary movement, said means also adapted to draw the flexible uprights adjustably against the sides of the reel.

2. A yarn holder and the like comprising a framework having a base, compressible uprights secured to the base, a cross-piece connecting the uprights, a reel for the yarn or other material held between the uprights, and means supported by the uprights for rotatably holding the reel and also acting to compress the uprights upon the side portions of'the reel.

3. A holder for yarn and the like comprising a relatively heavy base, uprights secured at their lower portions along opposite edges of the base, a cross-piece connected to the upper edge portions of the uprights, a reel fitting between said uprights, a non-rotatable shaft extending freely and removably through the reel and having means to readily engage with one of the uprights and adapted to projectthrough the other upright, and means on the pro ejecting end of the shaft for drawing the-two uprights frictionally against the side portions of the reel.

4. A holder for yarn and the like comprising a weighted base, flexible uprights secured to thebase and having reduced upper portions, a relatively narrow cross-piece connectingthe upper reduced ,ends'of the uprights, a flat reel upon which the yarn or other material is wound adapted to be fittedbetween said uprights, a shaft-passing freely through the reel and supporting the same for rotation, said shaft having lugs. thereon for cooperating with one upright to prevent rotation of the shaft, and a nut threaded upon the other endv of the shaft and adapted to screw against the exterior surface of the companion. upright;

WALTER WILSON. 

